I have toured nearly every work center in Wisconsin's Sixth District, such as Lakeside Packaging in Oshkosh, Ascend Services in Manitowoc, Green Valley Enterprises in Beaver Dam, RCS Empowers in Sheboygan, Fox River industries in Berlin and Northwoods, Inc. in Portage. I’ve had the privilege to see the great facilities, meet the dedicated employees and speak with the individuals with disabilities who love working there.

One of the people I met, and now consider a friend, is a young woman named Yael. She has a job in a work center and at a retail store and has not let her disability get in the way of her happiness. When I ask her which job she likes better, she tells me she likes her job at the work center because "that's where all my friends are".

Yael was referred to her work center 17-years ago by her local vocational rehabilitation agency. It has been invaluable for young people like Yael to have the choice and flexibility to work in a fulfilling job that provides them with work experience, financial compensation, friends and social experience and the dignity they deserve as vital members of our communities.

Since then, however, the Department of Education issued a regulation and guidance that left local agencies confused, which has led many to no longer refer people like Yael to jobs in work centers.

This week, I introduced the Workplace Choice and Flexibility for Individuals with Disabilities Act, which will provide much-needed clarity for vocational rehabilitation agencies and ensure individuals with disabilities have choice in their employment options. Under my legislation these individuals can once again go to their local vocational rehabilitation agency to gain workplace skills, and then be referred by the agency to a job that fits their needs.

I hope that my colleagues in Congress will realize that Congressional actions in the past have taken away opportunities for young people with disabilities and that now is the time to restore the full array of options available to these unique, valuable, hardworking individuals who so deserve it.

Click here to read more about the Workplace Choice and Flexibility for Individuals with Disabilities Act.

Me with Yael and her parents

There are some people who feel Congress is broken and this week we saw another example of this disfunction. The House, hastily and without enough time to review the legislation, passed a government funding bill, known as a continuing resolution, that will keep the government open from October 1 to December 11, 2020. I am against government shutdowns and would normally vote for such a bill. I could not, however, in good conscience vote for a bill that I was not given time to read.

On Monday, September 21, a continuing resolution package, with only Democratic support, was added to the House floor calendar for Tuesday, September 22. This package did not include much needed agriculture relief that Republicans and President Trump requested. Tuesday morning the continuing resolution package was suddenly removed from the calendar for the day and we were told negotiations were continuing with the Senate and White House. There was no word on negotiations all day Tuesday.

Suddenly, at 6:55 p.m. ET, we were told we would have to vote on a 115-page bill in 35 minutes. The roll call was actually called in 25 minutes.

I feel it was insulting to hold a vote on such a significant bill without being able to discern the details. I can say that as a former state legislator, there is no way state senators or state representatives would accept such high-handed tactics from their leadership – Democrat or Republican.

By now, most congressmen have become dispirited and just vote yes on these bills, assuming that the people who negotiated it did a good job. Therefore, the bill passed 359-57. Every Democrat voted for the bill as did, to my surprise and dismay, most Republicans. There were just 57 of us who voted no.

I was in strongly favor of the agricultural relief that was included in the passed bill. But, I could not find a single one of my colleagues who could answer the questions I had about other provisions in the bill.

There is no reason that this vote could not have been taken later in the week after we had a chance to responsibly review the bill. I am dismayed that Democrats, some of whom are my friends, allowed Speaker Pelosi to ask them to vote for a bill with so little time to review it.

I will continue to work to make sure the bill taken up in December, when this continuing resolution expires, is a fiscally responsible bill providing for the necessities of our government.

You may remember from the August 22 edition of my E-newsletter that I “adopted” Vietnamese Prisoner of Conscience Pastor A Dao. On August 18, 2016, Pastor A Dao, a Protestant pastor of the Montagnard Evangelical Church of Christ (MECC) and an advocate for religious freedom, was arrested in Vietnam and sentenced to five years in prison for “helping individuals to escape abroad illegally”. You can read more about Pastor A Dao by clicking here.

I have great news!

On Friday, September 18, I received word that Pastor A Dao has been released. This news came one month after I, along with the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), began to shine a light on this wrongful imprisonment and advocate for his release, and nearly a year before his expected release date.

Congratulations to Pastor A Dao on being able to return to his family! I hope that his release is a sign of Vietnam transitioning from an anti-God totalitarian state to a country in which religion in general and Christianity in particular can be openly practiced.

This also shows the importance of speaking out against oppression and promoting the importance of religious freedom throughout the world. Religion should not be a tool to oppress any person nor a stain on their character. I hope that other elected officials will take note of the oppression that religious minorities, which in many parts of the world are Christians, have to deal with on a daily basis and speak out against them.

Pastor A Dao

This week, we celebrated National Small Business Week. Thank you to all of the workers who keep Wisconsin's small businesses running and for your contributions, achievements and dedication to our communities.

Fox River Industries in Berlin strives to enhance both personal and professional development, as well as independence, among individuals with disabilities. The wonderful individuals I met here are the reason I am fighting for the Workplace Choice and Flexibility for Individuals with Disabilities Act.

It was truly an honor to visit the Boys and Girls Club in Berlin and see firsthand the steps they're taking to help our children reach their full potential. This Club provides our youth with a safe environment to foster physical and mental growth. 

I have co-sponsored the SAVE Moms and Babies Act alongside Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Rep. Bob Latta. This legislation will halt the import of dangerous chemical abortion drugs from overseas.

In Tuesday's Oversight Committee hearing, David Helvey, the interim Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs at the Department of Defense, shared that no Americans have been killed in combat in Afghanistan since the February 29 U.S.-Taliban peace agreement. It was also reported this month that the Taliban are negotiating a peace agreement with Afghanistan. Thanks to President Trump, the Middle East is moving in the right direction.

This week was National Clean Energy Week. On Thursday, I shared a video from a House Oversight Committee Hearing in August, where I spoke with climate expert Michael Shellenberger about the benefits, and misconceptions, of nuclear power. He told me that in terms of its effect on the environment, closing a single nuclear power plant is the equivalent of adding 1,000,000 cars to the road. For the sake of our environment, we need to revisit nuclear energy.

As your Congressman, I’m here to serve you. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to my offices in Fond du Lac and Washington. If you enjoyed this newsletter be sure to forward it to your family and friends so they can stay informed on what I’m doing in Washington and the Sixth District. 

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